Ka-Neng Au Business Librarian au@rutgers.edu 19 May 2009

Learning Tools: Class Guides: Dana Class Guides: Business
Interfunctional Team Consulting 2009
(22:621:543 and 29:011:400)
Prof. Steve Moccio and Prof. Fred Shapiro

• Journals and Magazines
• Newspapers
• Trade Associations
• Public Companies
• Private Companies
• Industry Analysis
• Regulations
• Research Guides

Business Research: A Plan of Attack

1. Journals and Magazines

Use these periodical indexes to find articles published in journals and trade magazines:

• Business Source Premier for academic journals and trade magazines
• Business & Industry for more trade publications
• Tablebase for tabular data e.g. market share

There are also many freely-accessible sources for Industry News and Trade Magazines.

2. Newspapers

Use these periodical indexes to find articles published in newspapers (and some trade journals):

• Access World News for New Jersey newspapers (or papers from other states or from specific countries)
• Factiva (also has company profiles)
• LexisNexis Academic (also has reports from Hoover's, ISS, S&P, and investment firms; to be replaced with Westlaw Campus Research)
• Regional Business News (includes NJBiz and Crain's New York Business)
• Westlaw Campus Research (also has reports from Hoover's) to replace LexisNexis Academic

3. Trade Associations and Research Centers

• Search for a trade association for your industry with the ASAE's Gateway to Associations (be aware of search limitations).
• Consult the Encyclopedia of Business Information Sources (DANA Reference Desk, KILMER Reference Business Counter 1) for other listings of trade associations and trade journals.
• You can also search the Encyclopedia of Associations and the Research Centers and Services Directory to identify organizations by industry or area of interest (but details will require a fee).

4. Public Companies

• MarketLine Business Information Center for company profiles, SWOT analyses, and financial deals.
• Mergent Online for up to 15 years of company financials and selected equity research.
• OneSource for corporate families and company profiles.

5. Private Companies

• ReferenceUSA to find prospects and competitors by industry and location.
• OneSource for international businesses and executives.
• For industrial products and services, consult the ThomasNet directory.

6. Industry Analysis

• Standard & Poor's Industry Surveys (CAMDEN REF Index Area, DANA Reference Desk, KILMER REF Business Counter 2) for extensive industry overviews, major players, and basic statistics.
• IBISWorld research reports for trends, statistics, and analysis on market size, market share of competitors, and industry growth rates.
• MarketLine Business Information Center for broad industry sector reports with Five Forces analyses.
• D&B Key Business Ratios for industry norms and ratios for solvency, efficiency, and profitability.
• OneSource for a different set of industry averages and ratios.
• Mergent Online for selected industry reports for world regions.
• Mintel for product and service market research reports.

7. Regulations

• Refer to N.J. Regulations from the New Jersey Administrative Code for requirements for specific business activities e.g. N.J.A.C. 8:43A, Ambulatory Care Facilities.
• You can also search the entire Code of Federal Regulations, which is the codification of the rules published by the executive departments and agencies of the Federal Government.

8. Research Guides

• Refer to the Rutgers Business Research Guide for more resources for company, industry, and market research.
• Your human guides are Ka-Neng Au, Wen-Hua Ren, and Roberta Tipton.